The rise of horses : 55 million years of evolution / Jens Lorenz Franzen ; translated by Kirsten M. Brown

Object Details

Author

Franzen, Jens Lorenz

Translated from the German.

Contents

The depths of time -- Europe in the Eocene -- The dawn horses of the morning cloud -- Constructions and functions -- Discovering horse evolution -- Evolution and expansion of the horses -- Pseudo horses and relatives of horses -- The Ice Age and the roots of modern horses

Summary

"One of the world's leading experts on horse evolution traces the origins, evolution, and diversification of the equines." "Long domesticated, related to rhinoceroses, and descended from a creature the size of a hare, horses are a fascinating study in evolution. Jens Franzen's account explores the early evolution and eventual diversification of horse anatomy to explain how and why these once widespread and varied mammals became the common horses, zebras, and asses we know today. Beginning with their evolutionary rise roughly 55 million years ago, Franzen traces a history etched in fossils. He explains how improving body construction and energy balance allowed some horses to enter and thrive in new environments while others failed and became extinct. In presenting this story, Franzen hews closely to the Frankfurt theory of evolution and explains how it applies to the wide variations in the evolution of horse species."--BOOK JACKET.

2010

Type

Books

Physical description

viii, 211 p. : ill. (some col.), maps (some col.) ; 26 cm

Smithsonian Libraries

Topic

Horses--Evolution

Horses, Fossil

Horses--History

Record ID

siris_sil_950506

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0